Va-Yetze 5762, Genesis
28:10-32:3
Shabbat Shalom-
This week's portion holds many secrets. Many people don't know this, but the historical roots of the male ritual head covering, the kippah, are here. As it says "Then Jacob went out from Beer Sheva" (28:10). And could Jacob go out without a head covering? Of course not! He must have been wearing a kippah!
Another memorable morsel: Jacob vows that YHWH (the Lord) will be his god if He provides him food and clothing as well as protection on his journey and a safe return home (28:20-21). Imagine what the world would be like if we actually demanded of God these things. There wouldn't be a man of faith among us! Or perhaps we are only obligated to believe in a god in good times but not in bad.
On a more serious but related theme, I think we'll discuss what God might be. In the Hebrew Bible the two most common names of God are Elohim and YHWH. The former, besides being a generic term for a god or gods, means "mighty or powerful" (Gen 1:2, 30:8, 31:29, Psalm 36:7). The latter's meaning is most likely something like "he who causes everything to be" or more generally "the sustainer" (I Samuel 1:11, Ex 3:14 &c.). The ancient rabbis (2nd-6th century CE) saw in these two names a distinction between the two ways in which God relates to the world (cf. Gen 1, Gen 2). Elohim is the distant and abstract God of natural laws (Gen 14:18-20) whereas YHWH is the more personal, imminent God that attends to our daily affairs (Gen 3:8, 11:5, Ex 15:3). Biblical scholars of course attribute these differing ideas to different traditions, though all will agree that they were eventually merged together as is seen in the Bible.
This difference is born out in how Rachel, Jacob's second wife, understood the birth of her first son, Joseph.
She conceived and bore a son, and said, "God [Elohim] has taken away [Heb. asaf] my disgrace." So she named him Joseph [Yosef], which is to say, "May the Lord [YHWH] add [yosef] another son for me." (Genesis 30:23-24, NJPS)
If we understand that the Bible uses the names of God with a particular purpose in mind, we may understand this exchange to be saying something very fundamental about how we see the world. Giving birth was an act of nature which we can recognize, but when we really need something, we pray to a personality, to people. Hence, Rachel saw at once the natural result of her childbirth in lessening her disgrace in the eyes of others, but at the same time she requested the help of the personal deity to bring her more children. This is the way a religious person sees the world. While the world is run by natural law, we must seek the help of our friends to cope with life's difficulties.
As Jeremiah can only lament against a personal deity “You will win, O Lord, if I make claim against You, yet I shall present charges against you: Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremiah 12:1, NJPS). It is this imminent god that Abraham accuses of injustice at Sedom and Ammorah (Genesis 18:25). It is no wonder that this brilliant insight into the human psyche has YHWH as the most personal name of God. Though we may recognize nature to be cruel and heartless, we seek out love, mercy, and friendship in our daily lives. Nature acts according to rules, while humans act with their hearts and minds. This is how we are created in the divine image (Genesis 1:27).
Thus, though we know the world can be cruel, we must relate to people with warmth and care.
Have a caring week!
Benjamin Fleischer
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